The Scifaxi Empire
The Scifaxi Empire is a small, isolated empire located on the tropical world of Yuka in a hybrid nebula in the Rosa Galaxies Race The main inhabitants of Yuka are the Klavax, a bipedal race that evolved from squids. Originally, a small group of squids were driven out of there territory by a larger group of squids. The exiles found a home in a shallow cove. They eventually learned to draw oxygen from the air as well as the water, and their offspring began breathing above water most of the time. Their offspring moved out of the water entirely, making a home on the large beach by their home cove. Their tentacles retracted into solid, bony legs, and a new species, the Klavax, was born. The Klavax walk, use sound and words to communicate, can breath underwater, and have a strong sense of taste, satisfied only by the large, meaty Fyr fish from Yuka's many oceans. Phisiology The Klavax have slightly green, transparent, slimy skin and tentacles growing out of their hair and down their back rather then hair. Crusty barnacles that their squid ancestors used as protection from the many carnivorous fish of Yuka cover the Klavax' upper torso and neck. Small tentacles grow out from pores on the barnacles. Their hands are also crusty and dry, but juveniles' hands are more like tentacles then hands. Empire The Scifaxi Empire stretches across the world of Yuka. Many of its citizens are starving and poor with the only job openings being as laborers or slaves. And, with the lack of a minimum wage, they are paid little to nothing for their hard work. Government It is a plutocratic/democratic dictatorship, where a dictator is elected and stays in that position for life, which for the Klavax is an average of 150 some years. A Council of ten advisors, each from one of the ten regions of Yuka, are elected every 15 years. These advisors use their influence to provide lavish materials for theirselves and their familes, who may or may not include their benefactors. The same is more or less true for the dictator, who traditionally renounces his family ties "for the good of the Scifaxi". Each one also traditionally adds to and designs the Grand Palace, a huge underwater mansion for the dictator. The current one, Ayot, has added a whole wing dedicated to fine dishes and cutlery. In addition, Ayot has ordered the Klavax to move out from their remote and isolated tribes and into ramshackle cities in the island above the lake where the Grand Palace rests, for the sole purpose of taxing the citizens that much more. Most of the Klavax live in shantytowns comprised of old impromptu shacks, barely sustaining themselves while forking over all their hard-earned resources to the Empire. Military The Scifaxi military is mainly comprised of a small navy and and an even smaller conscript army. Many years ago, the Scifaxi decided to pour huge amounts of time, research, manpower and resources into the construction of six huge orbital defense platforms, each outfitted with a magnetic accelerator cannon capable of ripping a small ship to shreds in one shot, a scout/defense ship and a crew of twelve. The crews were randomly selected from the population, trained for six years, and launched into space to man the defense platforms, a position they would hold for life. However, these crews have been in space for over a hundred years, and the possibility of them dying and leaving the platforms derelict and unmanned is all to real. The government must face a greatly inportant decision--to leave the platforms empty and unoperational, or send more crews up, a choice that might send the already unhappy population into revolt. Technology The Scifaxi are quite primitive in some respects, yet largely advanced in others. For example, they are advanced in the field of space travel, possessing the technology to man spaceships and orbital defense platforms. However, those technologies are largely useless due to the empire's apparent desire to remain isolated and calm from the rest of the galaxies and the many violent races that inhabit it. On the other hand, they lack the technology to use motorized vehicles and boats, or maybe just lack the funding to utilize it.